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Merry Christmas at the Miller Home

You can bet there will be thanks and rejoicing at the Miller household in Cary this Christmas.

That’s because 22nd Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Michael Feetterer dumped the Cary Police charge of obstruction of justice charge. It resulted from David Miller’s dumping a load of gravel Saturday, June 16, 2007, rather than going to a weigh station, as instructed.

Judge Feetterer ruled that the prosecution did not provide that charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The decision freed Miller from the possibility of serving up to three years in state prison.

Feetterer did not, however, let Miller completely off the hook. He found him guilty of a business offense and fined him $2,000, the maximum amount possible. Miller also has to pay court costs in addition to the $2,000.

“Last week, he testified that he thought the weight check was a ‘waste of time’ and an example of police targeting truckers for revenue. ‘I didn’t think I was doing anything illegal,’ he said.”

The story was featured in the Northwest Herald a month after the arrest.

The paper reported Miller’s brother, Algonquin Township Highway Commissioner Bob Miller, called his friend Judge Mike Chmiel after his brother’s Saturday arrest, which was after the regular Saturday bond hearings. He sought another bond hearing, so his brother would not have to spend the weekend in jail.

Chmiel held such a bond hearing.

The Judicial Inquiry Board got involved, filing a complaint against Chmiel and sent an investigator to interview witnesses in McHenry County.

No action has resulted from what presumably is the resulting report. The next move is by the Illinois Courts Commission, to which any report from the Judicial Inquiry Board would be submitted.

David Miller’s niece (Bob Miller’s daughter) Rebecca Lee was the defense attorney in the case.

McHenry County Board member Anna Miller and her husband, Algonquin Township Highway Commissioner Bob Miller, are seen behind two unidentified women entering the Illinois Republican Party Convention in Decatur. Judge Michael Chmiel can be seen below.